Escape or Not
by Showndra Ridge
Summary: When Rowen is accepted to an American University he thinks that he’ll be able to escape the abuse of his father. Little does he know what awaits him there is something none of the Ronins could have ever expected.Rowen Abuse fic. Archived: Fan Ficiton Now
1. Default Chapter

T: Escape or Not?  
  
I don't own Ronin Warriors. Set at Virginia Commonwealth University.  
  
Rowen Hashiba hurried through the halls of the university he had decided to attend in America. He remembered the expression on the other Ronins faces when he had told them the news, he would be going to a college in America. Talpa was killed, so there was no reason to really stay in Japan, other than to still see the other Ronins.  
  
He would have stayed in Japan too, but for two things that happened. His father found him alone one night, and was able to hit him several times before Sage and the others saved him. After being forced from the room his father screamed out that he would come back and kill Rowen. That had almost been too much for Rowen. Then one day about a week later, when Mia had brought in the mail there was a letter for Rowen. Someone had entered his name to an American university. They had accepted him, a full scholarship.  
  
He thought about it only for a couple of days then reached his decision, he would be going. He told Sage first, then everyone else. While they where all happy for him, they where also sad, Rowen was the first of their group that was making such a move. It was one thing to lose contact while you where still in the same country. You always knew if you needed to see any of the others they could be to you in 24 hours. America was a long way away. Going the legal way they would need to get visas. Going illegal, they would need to sneak in, and then find their way around a country where only Sage, Cye, and now Rowen knew the language.  
  
Rowen had sent his response back to the university then waited for their response. About a month later he got back a packet of information, including the paper work he would need to fill out to become a student in America. Mia had helped him through the mountains of forms, and then had helped the 20 year old man get the shots and other tests that would be required for him to leave the county.  
  
He was given a couple of weeks to wait, his university would be starting the end August, and he was allowed to move in mid August. He was going to move in as soon as he could so he could allow himself to adjust to the country and learn the surrounding city. That and he wanted to get away from his father as fast as possible.  
  
The day had come almost to fast for the Ronin, but come it did. The day was almost nothing more than one big blur. He was awoken for a very sound sleep by Sage dragging him out of bed. The blond Ronin had smiled at him then reminded him that planes waited for no one. He had grumbled about getting a little more sleep, but Sage reminding him if he missed his plane there would be no America, no escape from his father. So forcing himself to move, he had gotten dressed and left the room. Making his way downstairs he found the others waiting for him, even Ully had made the trip to see him off. With a smile on his face he sat down in one of the chairs and ate breakfast. He knew it would be the last time he would be able to eat Cye's cooking for a while.  
  
Watching everyone in the room Rowen felt a sudden pang of fear. This fear was unlike anything he had ever experienced, nothing not even coming up against Talpa had produced this type of fear. Ryo and the others noticed the fear that was on Rowen's face and reassured him he would be fine. Kento reminded him that he had an uncle in New York, which was about 5to 7 hours away from the school Rowen would be going to.  
  
After calming himself down Rowen left the house, then Japan for at least a year. There had been tears in almost everyone's eyes. Mia had openly cried and hugged him before he got on the plane.  
  
Getting off the plane in America, Washington DC to be exact Rowen was faced with customs. After waiting for several hours he got through them then made his way to the shuttle the university had send to pick up its new students. Making his way on the bus and to the back seat he caught conversations in Korean, Chinese, and several other languages, but no one spoke Japanese. The whole 3 hour ride Rowen spent staring out of the shuttle's window and thinking about his past.  
  
When the shuttle pulled up in front of the university Rowen was the last one to get off, his fear had returned. He slowly moved to the front of the shuttle and left the safety he had felt in the vehicle.  
  
Standing all alone on the edge of what appeared to be a park he waited while someone read off names on a sheet and various people from his shuttle where lead off by a guide.  
  
"Rowen Hashiba?" The person suddenly called.  
  
"I'm here." He said and walked forward.  
  
The person who called him looked down then back to him.  
  
"Thomas here will be your guide until you get used to the area. He will also be your roommate, you're in Johnson Hall, room 915." They told him.  
  
Thomas walked forward and grabbed one of his bags then lead Rowen across the street and to a 12 story building.  
  
"Johnson doesn't have AC so we get to sweat." Thomas told him making small talk.  
  
The two walked past security after showing their IDs and rode one of the elevators up to the 9th floor. The two teens then walked to the room they would be sharing, and unloaded Rowen's stuff.  
  
"Thanks Thomas." Rowen told him.  
  
"Hey No Prob, by the way you can just call me Tom." The teen said and sat down on the bottom bunk of the bed.  
  
"I'll try to remember that." Rowen said and for the first time wondered why he had decided to come to this country so far from his friends.  
  
"English is your second language isn't it?" Tom suddenly asked.  
  
Rowen glanced away from the window he was standing at and staring out at the outside city back to the other boy.  
  
"Yeah it is."  
  
"How long have you known how to speak it for?" Tom asked him.  
  
"Only about a year, I got two of my friends to teach me." Rowen said, thinking of Cye and Sage.  
  
"Well in that case, if you get confused let me know and I'll translate for ya, ok?"  
  
"Thanks that would be a big help." Rowen said, beginning to calm down.  
  
Thomas had then shown him the campus in all its glory and the two teens hit Hibbs for dinner, then went back to their room.  
  
Over the next week and ½ Rowen got used to the city. That was after he got over his jet-lag. Then classes had started.  
  
Rowen had walked into his 3rd class of the day, it just happened to be at 5, and sat far in the back so he would be alone. Suddenly a girl his age walked up to him, smiled at him, and asked if the seat next to him was taken. When he told her it was free she sat down and told him her name was Jennifer. Over the next couple of weeks Jennifer, or Jenny, got closer to him, until finally she asked him out.  
  
They where a couple only a few days when Jenny first got him to go into her room in West Broad. This dorm unlike Johnson was, was set up 'apartment' style. In most cases it was 4 people, each with their own bedroom, who shared a kitchen, living room, and washer/dryer. There where also two bathrooms. Jenny had the big room; this one was separated from the others by the bigger of the two bathrooms. And as Jenny had pointed out and later proved no one could hear what happened in her bedroom.  
  
**  
  
Rowen was brought out of his memories when he silently slid into a seat in the back of the room.  
  
He was late.  
  
Again.  
  
It wasn't him fault, yet Jenny glared at him.  
  
"Sorry." He muttered.  
  
She glanced at him once and looked back to the front of the room. He would have to get the notes later from her.  
  
Rowen tried to concentrate on the lecture but was unable to. Tom had started to ask questions. 'Why did he jump any time someone came up behind him?' 'Why was he now wearing baggie clothing?' and others.  
  
Time crawled by but finally the lecture ended.  
  
"Come with me." Jenny said. It wasn't a question, it was an order.  
  
The warrior of life stood and followed his girlfriend from the lecture hall and out onto the street.  
  
"Jenny I'm sorry." He began but she cut him off.  
  
"Look Rowen I don't care what the reason was. The fact of the matter was you were late." She paused in her yelling at him to cross the highway and sign him into her dorm.  
  
The main reason he was late, and he would never tell her this, was due to her.  
  
She led him up to her room and to her bedroom where she closed the door and locked it. Throwing on some music to cover any noise she walked across the room to him.  
  
Rowen had sat down on her bed and was just waiting to see what she would do.  
  
After checking once to make sure her shades where closed, she finished walking over to him. She sat down on the bed next to him. and slugged him.  
  
TBC  
  
************************************************************************* A/N: I used VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) due to the fact that I'm a student there. so yeah the places are right. Oh yeah I don't own VCU.  
  
This is set after Gaiden, but I'm saying the whole thing with the black inferno armor never happened, and obviously Message didn't/isn't going to take place. 


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2  
  
Disclaimer: I didn't say that I owned Jenny or Thomas. If you want Jenny your more than welcome to take her, I don't want you to like the woman, and if you do then I'm not writing this fic right. You should hate her and want her dead.  
  
Oh and Fancy Face if you want what you told me to happen you need to leave it for me in a review, sorry got to be fair to other people too.  
  
***  
  
Jenny hit Rowen a coupe of more times before she yelped in pain. Drawing her hand to herself she saw she had split one of her knuckles open. "How dare you? Look what you did!" she screamed at him.  
  
"I'm sorry Jenny." Rowen said softly.  
  
"You should be." The girl told him. "Go clean yourself up, and then get me ice for my hand.  
  
"Of course." Rowen said, and after unlocking the door and checking to make sure that Jenny's roommates weren't there, he ran into the bathroom.  
  
Rowen glanced at his face in the mirror. She had given him a black eye again. She had also split one of his lips. Gently touching his noise he found that even though it was bleeding she hadn't broken it.yet. For the 100th time since he had come to America Rowen wished Sage or one of the other Ronins was there, at least with them behind him he could tell her he didn't want to date her anymore. But here he was all alone.  
  
Washing the blood out of the sink, he glanced once more at his now ruined face then left the safety of the room. Quickly grabbing the ice and telling one of Jenny's friends he was fine, he went back into her room.  
  
"What took you so long?" she demanded. "Oh never mind." She said and grabbed the ice out of his hands. "You just better be gland I'm so forgiving."  
  
Rowen didn't say anything.  
  
"You know sometimes I even wonder why I bother with you." Jenny told him and motioned for him to get his stuff so she could sign him out.  
  
"Now you go back to your room. I'm going to a party with a couple of my friends. And I know you'd either embarrass me or flirt with someone so I just want you to stay in your room. Understand?" she asked before she opened her room door.  
  
"I understand." Rowen told her.  
  
She led him downstairs where she signed him out. After getting back their IDs they walked out of the building and into the night. Watching as cars drove past them they waited for the traffic to let up for a second, and then made a mad dash across Broad street.  
  
Once they where past the parking deck Jenny finished her instructions.  
  
"I will be calling you to make sure you are in the room. Be sure to pick up."  
  
"I will." Rowen heard himself say.  
  
"Good, go back to your room now." Jenny said and walked off to talk to a coupe of her friends.  
  
Rowen watched her walk off then continued the walk to Johnson Hall. Had he continued to watch her he would have seen one of the males in the group lean down to Jenny and kiss her on the lips, but he didn't look back. After scanning his card and showing it to security he made his way up to the 9th floor. Noting the fact that the door to his room was partly opened, he began to enter the room and was faced with his roommate.  
  
"Man what happened to you?" Thomas asked, even before he was fully in the room.  
  
"Nothing." Rowen muttered.  
  
"You sure you didn't get in a fight?" Tom asked.  
  
"I'm sure." Rowen said and sat down at his computer to check his e-mail.  
  
"Well there's gonna be a block party tonight, you going?"  
  
"No, I'm going to stay in my room and study." Rowen said, never glancing from his screen.  
  
Thomas shrugged, "Your loss then, catch you later Ro." He said and left the room, closing the door as he left.  
  
Rowen sighed and scrolled down his e-mail list. Most of it was just about study groups, and the stuff that wasn't about school was spam. Then just as he was about to exit he noticed an e-mail from Mia. Hesitating only a second he opened the e-mail then began to read.  
  
: Hey Ro, this is Sage. What's going on? You haven't contacted us since you got there and we're starting to worry about you. Ryo's been having some strange dreams about you and a girl. Rowen e-mail or call us as soon as you get this. We need to know your ok. Sage Date :  
  
Rowen went to write a response to Sage then paused. He had no idea what to say to his best friends. He debated with himself for a few moments then hit 'reply' and prepared to tell Sage and the others everything that had happened thus far. Holding his fingers over the keyboard he lowered them to type.  
  
Then the phone rang. Sighing once he stood and walked across the room to answer the phone. Even before he picked it up he knew who it was.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey Ro, this is Jenny you feeling better hon?" Jenny asked trying to keep up the front that they had a normal relationship.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine."  
  
"Ok, bye then." She said and hung up on him.  
  
He stared at the phone for a few seconds then remembered to hang it up. Walking back across the room to his computer and stared at it. He couldn't tell them, not now. He shut the window to his e-mail box and walked back to his bed. Collapsing on his stomach he buried his face in his pillows and began to cry. Silent sobs racked his body as he gave into the depression, never once did he realize the symbol of 'life' was glowing on his forehead.  
  
***  
  
(In Japan, {at 11 am, time in America: 9 pm})  
  
Ryo was taking a morning nap, unlike him, but after all of his recent Rowen nightmares he needed the rest. A sudden feeling of loss and hopelessness washed over him. "No Rowen." He started to mutter. White Blaze got up from his place on the balcony and came to Ryo's side. "Rowen!" Ryo screamed and sat up.  
  
Sage ran into his room and at the same time both teens realized their virtues where glowing.  
  
"What's going on?" Cye asked a couple of seconds later as he and Kento arrived in Ryo's room, 'trust' glowing on his forehead.  
  
"Something's wrong with Rowen." Sage said softly, the blond haired teen walked to the phone sitting on Ryo's night stand.  
  
"Mia's going to hate the charges." Kento muttered as Sage dialed Rowen's number.  
  
***  
  
The sound of the ringing phone came to Rowen's ears and after a couple more rings what the sound was registered in his fuzzy mind. Forcing himself to move across the room he picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Rowen this is Sage." Sage told him in English.  
  
"Oh hey Sage." Rowen said trying to keep his voice even.  
  
"{Everything ok there?}" Sage asked switching to Japanese.  
  
"{Yeah, I'm fine.}" Rowen told him. A sudden noise in the door attracted his attention and he looked up. Jenny was there, anger burning in her eyes.  
  
"I need to go." He said in English and hung up.  
  
Jenny walked across the room after slamming the door and locking it.  
  
***  
  
Sage stared at the phone in his hand. "He hung up on me."  
  
"What?" Cye asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.  
  
"Rowen hung up on me." Sage said and hung up the phone.  
  
"We need to get to Rowen." Ryo said as he looked at everyone. Their virtues had stopped glowing.  
  
*~*  
  
A/N: Do you hate Jenny yet? 


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3  
  
A/N: Destiny's lot & Heart Throb you two don't hate her yet? Ok then, if you still don't by the end of this chapter go to 'AdultFanFiction.net' and look for 'Escape or not' unedited chapter.  
  
**  
  
Jenny glanced once at the man on his bed and walked to his computer. She had locked his door before she started across the room. Pulling up Windows Media Player she put on Nine Inch Nails and turned the volume up as loud as it would go. She then walked across the room and seated herself next to Rowen. The whole time the warrior had been watching her.  
  
"Rowen who was that on the phone?" Jenny asked sweetly.  
  
Rowen knew she was utterly ticked at him by the tone of her voice she was using. "Just some of my friends from Japan." He told her.  
  
"Oh really?" Jenny said as if she didn't believe him.  
  
"Yes my old friends."  
  
"You shouldn't have talked to them." She said, clearly pissed.  
  
"Gomen." He started, fear making him slip into Japanese, "I mean I'm sorry."  
  
She didn't respond and instead slapped him.  
  
Rowen jumped back against the wall his bed was next to.  
  
Jenny suddenly pulled something from her pocket. She reached out and grabbed Rowen's arm. She removed the cap, and that's when Rowen could tell what the thing was, a needle filled with some type of blue liquid. She stuck the needle into his arm and emptied the contents. Drawing the needle back out, she re-capped it.  
  
Finally releasing his arm, he jumped away from her, "Jenny what?"  
  
Jenny smiled, "Oh just a little mix a friend of mine made. It has the same effect as Viagra."  
  
Rowen paled, he didn't want that with her, "Jenny you know-"  
  
"Yes, yes. You want to wait till your married. I don't see why."  
  
Rowen began to get angry, "Because it's important to me."  
  
"But Rowen dear, virginity is such an over rated thing." She told him and sat on his bed.  
  
"No to me." He told her and pressed himself against the wall. He was beginning to feel the effects of the drug.  
  
"Rowen don't be an ass." She said and grabbed his arm.  
  
While Rowen could have fought her off, even killed her with out the aid of his armor, he was unable to. He knew the reason and had even written a paper on battered spouse syndrome. It was one thing to write about a topic, and quite another to have it happen to him.  
  
He was brought out of his musings when he pressed her lips against his. His eyes flew open and he found himself looking into her green eyes.  
  
"Jenny, please no." He cried, a last desperate plea.  
  
She didn't answer him and instead pinned him to the bed. A sudden adrenalin boost allowed him to break the spell she had over him, and he pushed her off then in the same instant he slugged her.  
  
Hard.  
  
Hard enough to cause her to fall to the ground.  
  
Time seemed to stop.  
  
Jenny finally moved after what seemed to Rowen like hours, but was really only a few minutes.  
  
"Oh, so you like it rough?" She asked him and once again pinned him to the bed. This time however she didn't give him a chance to fight and instead handcuffed his hands to his bed posts.  
  
"Jenny-" he began again, but was silenced when she slugged him. She then began the task of removing his clothing.  
  
Jenny then took something from him he could never replace, his virginity.  
  
About an hour after Jenny first 'attacked' him, she was done. He was now bleeding from several places she had bitten him at and his entire body hurt.  
  
Jenny let him go and he could only glare at her for several seconds.  
  
"I hate you." The words left Rowen's mouth before he could stop them.  
  
"Why you." Jenny screamed and grabbed Thomas' rugby paddle. She began to hit him and didn't stop till Rowen passed out.  
  
Glancing once at the bleeding unconscious man, she left the room.  
  
**  
  
An hour later, Thomas came back. He had turned on the light and the girl that was with him screamed shrilly. Tom tried to figure out what she was screaming about. Then he noticed Rowen lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood and a white filmy substance that had begun to dry and harden. He assumed it was semen, but couldn't be sure.  
  
"Call security!" he screamed.  
  
Someone in the hallway ran down to their room and called the front desk for help.  
  
*  
  
Several minutes later Rowen was checked into MCV.  
  
*~*  
  
Somewhere in Japan White Blaze, who had been napping in the sun, woke up and let loose a growled, startling the Ronins and Mia who had been in the room with him.  
  
*****  
  
A/N: Yes this is possible, Jenny crushed Viagra and mixed it with distilled water.  
  
MCV= Medical College of Virginia, it's part of VCU 


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

Rowen woke up and felt each and every broken bone in his body.  His mind flashed back to what she had done to him and a shutter ran threw his body.  She had taken every thing from him and left him nothing.

Nothing at all.

He was worthless as far as he was concerned.

Trash.

Nothing more than trash.

The only thing he deserved now was Jenny, other than that he was trash.

Trash to be thrown away when one was done with it.

"Oh you're awake." A nurse said.

He jumped and felt the pain in his ribs.

"Oh don't move." She told him and he did as she said.

Rowen sighed and fell into a light sleep.

*

He was faced with Kayura again.  As she smiled at him her face suddenly turned into that of Jenny. 

As he stared at her he realized she was looking at something.  Turning his head he was suddenly aware of the Strata armor on his body.  Jenny was looking at the other Ronins.

"No!" Rowen screamed.

Ryo glanced at him, as did the others and they came toward him as quickly as their armors would allow.

"You need to go!" Rowen shouted.

"Why?" Sage asked concern for his best friend in his eyes.

"She's going to hurt you." Rowen shouted.

"What do you mean, Rowen dear?"  Jenny asked, and the form of Kayura warped completely into Jenny.  She sashayed over to Rowen and placed her hand on his chest plate.

"Please leave them alone." He begged.

"Rowen we're fine." Cye said.

"Rowen what ever could I do to them?" Jenny asked.

"Please…"

"Hmm the way you're begging… no." Jenny said and smiled.  She licked her lips in a feral, hungry way.

"Run." Rowen told his friends.

"Why? I can take her." Kento said and tried to grab Jenny.

She suddenly grabbed Kento's hand and threw the Hardrock bearer to the ground.  Chains formed around Kento and chained his arms to his body and his legs together.

"Look lady-" Ryo started, but Rowen cut him off.

"Just run.  Get the hell out of here!" 

"But what about Kento?" Cye asked.

"I'll get him." Rowen told them.

Ryo, Sage, and Cye took off, away from Jenny.  However more than once they glanced back.

"Rowen that was a bad thing to do." Jenny told him and grabbed his guest plate.

Suddenly his armor started to melt around her hand and it burnt him.  Rowen yelped in pain and closed his eyes.

**

Opening his eyes he found a nurse looking at him.

"A dream.  It was all a dream…"

**

*in Japan*

In each of their bead the Ronins woke up as one and all screamed 'Rowen'.

Mia, who had been awake heard them cry out and decided maybe it was time to check on the Strata bearer.

_******_

_blurring and stirring the truth and the lies  
so I don't know what's real and what's not  
always confusing the thoughts in my head  
so I can't trust myself anymore  
I'm dying again_

_so go on and scream  
scream at me I'm so far away  
I won't be broken again  
I've got to breathe I can't keep going under_

-Evanescence 'Going Under' CD: Fallen

**********************

A/N: I realize this is short but it's a small look into Rowen's mind.  Also I just started my second year of college, I'll try to make the next chapters longer.

There's going to be a songfic done for this fic, however the may not be posted on FF.N, if you want me to let you know when I write the songfic leave note and your e-mail in your review.

Can you guess what college I'm at?  If you said VCU your right!


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5  
  
To Mainstream Soveriegn: you know where VCU is? Cool do you live in the state?  
  
**  
  
After two weeks at MCV Rowen was more than ready to leave. His doctors had seen how restless the man was and had decided to let him out under the stipulation that he take it easy. His recovery speed had been faster than normal, however the doctors didn't seem overly worried about the fact. They believed him when he said that it must have had something to do with his very good diet and exercise regiment. Rowen knew it was due to his armor, he was just glad his virtue hadn't decided to glow while he had been in the hospital.  
  
Rowen walked out of the school and glanced up. The sky looked ready to pour, and he didn't have anything to protect him from the rain. Slipping one of his hands in his pockets he felt it brush against his orb. Someone had asked him about the 'marble' and he had come up with some excuse that his little brother had given it to him as a good luck charm. Before they could check his records and see he didn't have a little brother he had told them that his brother had been killed about a month after giving him the marble, that's why he kept it on him at all times. When the girl seemed saddened by his story he told her that the whole thing had happened when he had been seven in an attempt to brush it off. That had seemed to work, and now Rowen was left with his 'marble'. Taking his eyes from the sky and the storm that he could tell was ready to start he set off across the MCV campus to get to the pick up spot of Campus Connector.  
  
Campus Connector was a service the university offered so students could get from the VCU campus to MCV and vice versa. Campus Connector it's self was a bus that shuttled students back and forth, it ran from one campus to the other every 10 to 20 minutes depending upon traffic. While most colleges and universities were centralized, VCU had sprawled over a large part of the city of Richmond. The campus was spread out to the point where while walking you could walk off of campus, then back on, just to get from your dorm to one of your classes. The businesses around the campus didn't seem to mind, accepting for the Hardies that had a fire last year and had yet to reopen, they were glad to get the students money. That included a 7-11 that was no more than a five minute walk for everyone.  
  
Rowen was brought out of his musings about the school when Campus Connector stopped. Once it let its load of students off, Rowen climbed the steps and found a seat. He ignored the looks from the other students; they no doubt knew who he was. The bus wasn't crowded and so no one was forced to sit next to him. He could tell they were slightly scared of him, after all it's not everyday that a student is almost beaten to death in a dorm.  
  
He knew he should be glad to be alive but in his heart he wished he had just died. Not only from what SHE had done to him, taken from him, but also from the way everyone was going to treat him. He knew he wouldn't be able to take it, if everyone treated him the same way as the people on the bus were treating him. They would try to pretend like they didn't know who he was, but when they thought he wasn't looking they would glance back at him. Thanks to his enhanced hearing he could hear them whisper to each other about him, who he was, what had happened to him. For some reason he had yet to hear about his rape. Maybe it was the fact that no one could tell what had happened to him. He found that had to believe, however, after all he had been nude when Tom's girlfriend had walked in. While he hadn't been awake, awake, some part of his mind had been able to keep track of what was going on around after the point that Jenny had left the room. He remembered Tom's girlfriend's scream, then the RA coming, then security, and finally a trip down the larger of the two elevators and being loaded into an ambulance. The ambulance was when he had lost consciousness.  
  
Campus Connector stopped and Rowen was once again brought out of his musings. He got off the bus last and found himself in front of the library. Walking across a one way street he reached the side walk next to the Catholic church. Normally students would have been able to walk on the sidewalk on the other side of the street, but due to the construction of a new dining hall, a bigger version of Hibbs, the sidewalk was closed. Reaching the end of the road Rowen crossed the street and walked down to Johnson. Walking up the steps, he pulled out his ID and showed it to security after scanning it in the card scanner. He made his way to the stairs/elevator and paused to think. While he had healed, his body was still weak, normally he would just run up to the ninth floor but today he decided to take his chances with the elevators.  
  
The elevators in most of the dorms were not to be trusted. They tended to break down, leaving the occupants trapped until the fire department could get them out. Rowen had heard of one story last year where 9 students had gotten caught in the small elevator for five hours before anyone could get them out. At most the small elevator could comfortably fit 4 people. The nine had written their names and dates in the elevator for everyone to see, and no one had painted over it. Thankfully the large elevator was the one that arrived and Rowen along with two girls got on it. The girls got off at the fifth floor, the only odd numbered girls floor in Johnson.  
  
Arriving at the ninth floor, Rowen left the elevator and made his way to his room. He unlocked it and walked in.  
  
"Rowen man nice to see you!" Tom said from his computer.  
  
Tom's girlfriend, Cara, glanced up from the book she was reading on Tom's bed, "Ro they let you out."  
  
Rowen felt himself smile. "Yeah they did," he said and sat down on his bed. He noticed someone had changed the sheets and no doubt the mattress as well.  
  
"Oh yeah, maintenance came in and changed the whole bed and repainted the room. They moved me into the Radisson while they did it," Tom told him.  
  
"Sorry," Rowen said and laid down on his back.  
  
"Hey Ro man don't worry about it, some bastard attacked you, it's not your fault, you didn't ask for them to do that to you," Tom tried to assure him.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Rowen muttered. Still he wasn't so sure himself, after all  
  
Jenny hadn't asked that much from him had she? It had just been sex right? Maybe he was just to behind in his mind set, or maybe it was just due to being raised in Japan. Maybe he needed to think more like an American, after all he was living here now.  
  
"You going to classes tomorrow?" Cara asked.  
  
"Some of them, I don't think I can deal with Calculus just yet."  
  
"Isn't Jenny in that one?" Tom asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You know she kept calling here to see if you were out yet, she was really worried about you."  
  
"She did?" Rowen asked, trying to keep surprise out of his voice.  
  
"Yeah, she wants you to call her as soon as possible." Tom passed on.  
  
Rowen sighed, he really didn't want to talk to her just yet, if ever.  
  
"You want the phone?" Cara asked.  
  
"Nahh, I'm really tired. I think I'm just going to rest, I'll call her tomorrow."  
  
Cara shrugged.  
  
The room fell into relative silence, the only sound was Tom keying.  
  
A sudden knock at the door startled everyone in the room. Even before anyone answered it, it swung open.  
  
"Hey is Rowen in here?" the RA asked.  
  
"Yeah, he's here." Tom said.  
  
Rowen sat up.  
  
"Hey Rowen glad to see your ok, I got someone here who wants to see you." The RA told him and moved out of the way.  
  
"Hello Rowen." A voice said and Jenny walked into the room.  
  
"Oh hi Jenny, I didn't get a chance to call you yet." Rowen told her and walked to her.  
  
"Rowen I was so scared you would die." Jenny said and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.  
  
"I'm fine." Rowen told her and hugged her back.  
  
"That's good." She told him and looked up into his eyes, "I thought you where going to die, and that scared me." Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.  
  
"Don't worry about me."  
  
"Rowen I love you. I don't know what I would do if you died." She told him not letting him go.  
  
Rowen didn't say anything and pulled back from her a little.  
  
"Rowen?" Jenny asked.  
  
"I'm just tired." He told her.  
  
Jenny glanced up and kissed him, then pulled away. "In that case you rest." She said and left.  
  
Rowen sighed and went back to lie down on his bed.  
  
TBC  
  
************  
  
A/N: The author wishes to Littledevil398 for not killing my computer while she was reading over my shoulder while I writing this chapter.  
  
Also the event in the elevator with the nine people really happened. 


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

A/N: I checked Johnson Hall and the room I gave Rowen and Tom is a single occupancy room, oh well, anyway just for future reference the room is a two person, not one and would be like room 511 if you're ever in Johnson.

Also beware of imagery!! I'm trying to make the reader feel they're in the story more than before; I want you to feel what Rowen does.

***~~~***

_"And soon to be_

_Blinded by tears_

_I can stop the pain_

_If I will it all away"_

_-"Whisper" by Evanescence_

Rowen woke up in the middle of the night and found himself unable to get back to sleep.  He lay on his back looking at the top bunk where Tom was sleeping.  Rowen closed his eyes and listened as Tom began to snore.  The only other sound Rowen could hear was the occasional sound from the traffic.

Sighing once he pulled himself out of bed and walked to his closet.  He opened the wooden door and grabbed some clothing; quickly he pulled pants over his boxers and put a shirt on.  He then made his way across the mostly dark room to the door.  Glancing once at his sleeping roommate, he opened the door and walked out into the lit hall.

Rowen blinked against the sudden light and then made his way down the hall and to the stairwell.  At 4:30 a.m. almost no one was up, especially when there were classes the next day.  Entering the stairwell he had still failed to see anyone, and for that he was glad.  He didn't feel as if he could deal with any questions anyone may have right now.  He didn't feel as if he could deal with anything at all.

He didn't know exactly what he looked like, but he knew he had to look like shit.  For the past couple of days he hadn't been able to sleep.  He had gotten out of the hospital and found a letter waiting for him on his desk.  Tom had gotten it for him from the mailbox and had left it waiting for him.  Rowen had glanced once at the letter, but hadn't had time to open it and read it.  Then the next day when he had gotten back to his room, Jenny was waiting for him.  She had all ready opened the letter and told him what it had said.

Rowen almost tripped going down the stairs and forced himself to focus on what he was doing, not the past, as it was now the past.  Without meeting anyone he reached the bottom without almost falling again.

He left the stairwell and made his way across the lobby and to the glass doors to go out.  Security glanced once at him but didn't say anything, after all he was an adult who could take care of himself.  While he was a freshmen, they really couldn't do anything to stop him.  After all, for all they knew he may be going out for a smoke.

Pushing open the glass doors he made his way down the short staircase then hit the exit button by the second set of glass doors.  He then pushed the doors open and walked out onto the stoop of the building.  Ignoring the others that were out there, most of them were smoking (what he didn't want to know), and made his way down the stoop and turned right.  

There was almost no traffic at this time of night (or was it day?) so the group that normally hung out in front of Rhoads, another freshmen dorm, was somewhat in the street.  Rowen ignored the noise they were making as he made his way toward his one destination.

That night it had rained a little and a thin mist hung in the air.  While it was some what warm out, for a fall night, Rowen could feel nothing but cold.  He didn't see the way the little clouds of mist seemed to dance and almost form into human shapes if one would let their imagination get carried away.  He also didn't notice how that night the moon was at its fullest, the rain clouds having passed hours ago.  The light of the moon caught the wisps of mist and seemed to set the stage for something to happen, and only the night seemed to know what would happen.  And it was not likely to yield its secrets.

Rowen made his way closer and closer to the fence around where the new dining faculty was being built.  So lost in his thoughts of what he planned to do was he that he didn't even notice when he walked though a little puddle.  He especially didn't notice the one human wisp of clouds that was more than just a wisp.

Reaching the fence he cleared it in one jump, and at the same time he landed he never noticed a gasp that sounded through the night air.  Nor did he realize 'life' was glowing brightly on his forehead.

The new dining hall was only halfway done, if that.  So during the day the sun would reflect off the plain metal, while at night it caught the light of the moon.  The skeleton structure wasn't the least bit frightening during the day.  However at night it seemed almost like something out of a horror movie.  The shadows seemed to play with ones mind and could make someone think they had seen something when in reality there was nothing there.  To add to the effect even several hours after a rain storm, the site would still be dripping, almost sounding like a metal waterfall as the droplets of water would hit one metal part after another, only to fall the several stories down to the cement slab that would one day be a floor.  And to add to the effect the whole thing would catch any noise that sounded in the night air and reflect it back.  

Never noticing the feeling of 'horror' that seemed to hang in the night air around the building Rowen made his way inside of it.  One of the construction workers had left a ladder leaning against the wall and he used that to go up to the second story.  Then as an almost mockery of what he was about to do, he carefully made his way to the roof by using one of the unfinished walls.

The roof was nothing more right now, then metal welded together that one could fall through if one was not careful.  Rowen made his way to the middle of it without falling and sat down.

Thinking himself alone, he began to let all of the emotions of the past month spring forth.  He had gone from one hell only to fall into another, Jenny was worse than his dad had ever been.  At least his father had just beaten him; Jenny used him, forever staining him, making him unworthy to bear his armor.

Every time he had tried to leave her, the same thing that happened with his father would happen.  Mentally he knew he couldn't leave, no matter how much he wanted to.  He just couldn't, his mind wouldn't let him leave.  The same thing happened in battered spouse syndrome.  No matter how much you were hurt you would always come back to the person.  It's not that you didn't want to leave, it was that you couldn't.  Whether it be because you simply felt that was the way the person showed they loved you, or because you were scared to leave.  Or it was the fact that you knew the abuser loved you, and you were getting beaten up because you had done something wrong, and if you only tried harder and loved the person a little more then they would come around and show their love back to you in some form other than abuse.  The victim would sometimes feel that the abuser was just learning how to be nice; at some point in the future they would come around and stop hurting the person in love with them.

Rowen knew that Jenny wouldn't come around and show love for him.  She was just using him, taking out frustrations on him, and using him as a show-off item.  That's all he was to her, just something to show off to her friends, 'hey look I got this and you can't have it'.  She had begun to tell him how to dress and other things abusers sometimes did, and something Rowen's dad had never done.  She had also told how he should run his life, when he should get up, eat, and other such things.  Jenny had also been hinting that he should get his hair dyed blond and get a new haircut.

He hadn't submitted to her as much as she would have liked and had paid for it.  While he should have been able to stop her, he hadn't been able to, fear stopping him from even telling her to stop.  'Telling her, yeah right, more like begging her' Rowen mused.

Rowen knew Jenny was cheating on him, yet he didn't care.  He just didn't care anymore.

He fished something out of his pocket and brought out a pocket knife.  He opened it and the moonlight glinted off the blade.  Pocket knives were considered weapons and not allowed in the dorms, and if they found out that he had it he could be kicked out of school and sent back home.

Home right.

There was no one there for him.

*flashback*

Rowen had walked into his room after class and had seen Jenny as his computer, the letter from Japan in her hands.  She had opened it and appeared to have read it.

"Rowen, I'm so sorry." She told him.

"What do you mean?" Rowen asked, and reached for the letter.

She pulled it back so he couldn't get to it.

"Your friends, the ones you told me about, they were in a car wreck…" she began and trailed off.

"And what?" Rowen asked, dreading what he was about to hear.

"They were all killed.  Oh Rowen I'm so sorry." She told him.

He didn't answer and collapsed to the ground.  They were…dead?  That couldn't be… they couldn't be dead.  He would have known if they where dead?  Right?  Shouldn't have Kayura or someone shown up and told him?  Shouldn't he have been able to sense it if they had died?  Was the link between the armors that weak due to what Jenny had done?  Was he even still a Ronin now that he had been corrupted by her?  

He'd just sat there and cried.  At some point Jenny had thrown away the letter and left, but he didn't even notice.  Nor did he even wonder how Jenny had been able to read the Kanji the letter was written in.

He had managed to pull himself together and had stuck the letter, now crumpled up into a little ball, into his coat pocket.  By the time Tom got back, it was as if nothing had happened.

*end flashback*

For that matter there was no one here for him.

He took the knife and got ready to take his life and placed the knife against his skin.

"Stop! Whatever it is, it isn't worth it!" A female voice called as the form of a young woman materialized out of the fog.

_"Death before my eyes_

_Lying next to me I fear_

_She beckons me_

_Shall I give in_

_Upon my end shall I begin_

_Forsaking all I've fallen for_

_I rise to meet my end"_

_-"Whisper"_

**********

A/N: No this isn't the song fic, I just think Evanescence seems to fit this fic so well.  The whole thing is written while I listen to them.

And no the female character that just showed up is not a Mary Sue, I don't write Mary Sue's.


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

_…He took the knife and got ready to take his life and placed the knife against his skin._

_"Stop!__ Whatever it is, it isn't worth it!" A female voice called as the form of a young woman materialized out of the fog…._

****

Rowen didn't even look up when the girl had cried out.  For that matter he didn't even hear her.  Holding the knife he studied his arm and debated the best way to cut it.  Thinking back to a book on suicide he had read he reposition the knife and was just about to let it break the skin when a warm hand covered his.

"Just let me take the knife." The voice told him.

He finally glanced up and noticed the girl.  His eyes wondered back down to where the knife was covered by her hand.

"Please let me." He said softly.

"Um, nope, sorry." She said. "Drop the knife." She then ordered.

His grip on the knife lessoned and she took it from him.

"I'll ask later why you would do something that stupid." She told him, not leaving his side.  

It was then that Rowen realized his virtue was glowing.  Since his head was still pointed up a little he realized she could see the virtue.  He quickly lowered his head.

"I'm not going to ask about that blue glowie thingy so don't worry." She told him.

The night sky was slowly filling with clouds, and the night chose that exact second to make the night as dark as possible for the city.  The light blue glow was clearly visible.  She chose not to mention it.

"Come on." She told him and gently took his hand to try and get him to stand.

"Why?"

"It's going to rain, and I for one don't want to get wet." 

Rowen closed his eyes, it was going to rain, he could tell it.  He didn't care if he got wet though.  

"Come on, don't just stand there."

Rowen re-opened his eyes to look at the girl, she had brown hair as well as brown eyes.  The concern she had in her eyes was clear for him.  But why should she care about him?  

He finally stood and then looked confused.  It was like he was in a fog, he couldn't think clearly.

The girl still held on to his hand but slowly began to push him to one of the ladders.

"How you got up here is beyond me." She muttered.

"I just climbed." He told her, slightly distracted.  He was still fighting the fog.

"Yep I'm not going to ask, or about the fact how you jumped the fence, dude that was one big fence."

Rowen's mind went back to the fence.  He hadn't even thought about it and had just done it.  If Ryo knew what he had done he would be dead, someone could have seen him do that and it seemed someone had.  Well he wanted to die right?  Why not have 'death by a pissed Ryo'?

"Come on." She told him again, he had stopped when he began to think.

"I don't want to."

At that comment the sky opened and rain poured down around them.  The girl yelped and began to drag Rowen to the ladder.

"I don't wanna get soaked!"

Rowen let himself be dragged, he didn't really mind the rain.

The girl led him down the ladder then across the construction site.  The falling rain was causing the site to make it usual weird noises.

Rowen found himself being led across campus and into a dorm.  One of the ones he had never been in, Gladdings Residential Center, or GRC.  The girl took his ID from him and signed him in and led him to her room.  She lived on the apartment side.  Rowen was in such a fuzzy state he didn't even question when she went up stairs, down stairs, to the left, to the right, down stairs then into her apartment.  None of her roommates were in for a change.

The girl made him take off his jacket and handed him a warm cup of tea.  "You're just lucky I got the munchies."

"What?"

"Well normally I don't go out at 4 am, but I was studying Chem and I got hungry."  She paused to take a sip of her tea.

"You should have just left me alone."

"Oh to kill yourself?  I think not."

"I just want it all to end."

"What?" 

"My life."

She put down her tea.  "Now why would you want something like that?"

He pulled out the letter, "They're all dead."

"Who are?"

"My family."

"How do you know?" She asked, sitting next to him on the floor.

"I got it in a letter."

"What does it letter say?"

Rowen unfolded it and began to read, he tried to keep his amazement from showing up to much.

"Well?"

"They're not dead, she lied, Sage is coming to America in two days."

TBC

*************

A/N: Sorry but I had tests and am now going to be away from the computer for a while, so that's all you get.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8  
  
Note: Rowen repositioned the knife because if you try to slit your wrists the wrong way you can't kill yourself. Also if anyone notices this starts to act like a Mary Sue hit me over the head ok? I don't write Mary Sues, there's nothing wrong with them, but I just don't like writing them. Sorry Fancy Face.  
  
The song fic to this is up at another site, if you want the url to it let me know in your review and leave me your e-mail address, you can no longer put urls in fanfics on ff.n.  
  
****  
  
"Not that I know who Sage is." The girl muttered, then glanced back at the letter Rowen was still holding. "I take it you didn't read the letter?"  
  
"No." Rowen admitted, "I believed what she told me."  
  
"Who is she anyway?" the girl asked him.  
  
Rowen looked at her in confusion.  
  
"This girl you're trying to protect, the one that almost drove you to suicide."  
  
"She didn't almost drive me to suicide." Rowen muttered, still trying to cover for her. His eyes skimmed over the slightly damp letter one more time before he folded it up and put it in his pants pockets. His blue jeans were soaked but at this point he didn't care. And for that matter he didn't want to take off his pants in some strange girl's apartment when he didn't even know her name.  
  
"Right, then why were you on the new dining hall trying to kill yourself?"  
  
Rowen didn't answer her, he knew that there was nothing more to say.  
  
"Look one of my roommates is a Psych major and I help her study so I do know something about the way the mind works. Why are you covering for her?" she asked her hands on her hips.  
  
Rowen sighed, he knew she wasn't going to let up until she found out the reason.  
  
"How about this, let's start this right? My name is Ashley Jones."  
  
"Rowen Hashiba." Rowen said before he even thought about it.  
  
"Nice to meet you Rowen, I'm a 3rd year student, who's majoring in chemistry." She told him, a slight smile on her face.  
  
"When you introduce your self you really go all out don't you?" he asked, picking up his tea, which to his amazement was still hot, and took a sip.  
  
Ashley had already finished her tea and had by now put the cup in the sink.  
  
"It's the nice thing to do." She told him with a shrug.  
  
"Yeah.."  
  
"Well?" She asked, and sat down on at the small table located next to the windows.  
  
"Well what?" Rowen asked, finally breaking through the fog that was covering him completely.  
  
"What's your year and major?"  
  
"Oh um, freshman and undecided."  
  
"I had a feeling." She told him.  
  
Rowen decided this girl was a little strange.  
  
"And I take it your from Japan?" she asked him.  
  
He jumped a little, "How can you tell?"  
  
"Other than the fact that you look a little Asian? You paused at the door like you were going to take off your shoes then remembered you didn't have to so you didn't."  
  
"You analyzed me?"  
  
"Well you did just try to kill yourself, so I had to watch you closely." She said as she watched him.  
  
Rowen could see the logic in that, and didn't decide to question her further. Instead he focused on finishing his tea.  
  
"I like watching people." She said as way of explanation then took the cup from him and washed it in the sink. She rejoined him in the living room area a moment later.  
  
"Now who is she?" Ashley asked him.  
  
"Jennifer Martin." Rowen muttered.  
  
"Jenny Martin? Now why does that name sound familiar" the girl muttered.  
  
Rowen felt himself blush and quickly tried to hide it. "I don't know."  
  
"What did she do to you?"  
  
"Nothing!" Rowen said to quickly.  
  
"You answered that too quickly." Ashley told him. While she was still standing, he was sitting, almost giving him the impression she was towering over him.  
  
"I thought your roommate was majoring in the mind stuff." Rowen said, starting to get annoyed. He had no idea why he was acting this way, no wait he did, he needed to protect Jenny. It wasn't that he loved her; he really hated her, but if he didn't protect her she may hurt him more, or hurt Sage.  
  
"You're in an abusive relationship." She told him, as if she was stating a fact.  
  
"How would you know?" Rowen asked, he couldn't believe he was being this harsh.  
  
"Because every boyfriend Jenny gets winds up in the hospital."  
  
"What?" Rowen asked, he couldn't believe it.  
  
"Yeah, she's managed to kill two of them. The one problem is they can't pin it on her, so she gets off without any kind of punishment."  
  
Rowen stretched out on the couch he was laying on and shivered, his mind going back to the incident that had put him in the hospital. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't even notice when Ashley left the room. The sudden feeling of something hitting his legs made him jump. He glanced down and saw a pair of blue jeans.  
  
"They're my exes, you can use them."  
  
"Nan desu ka? Sorry, I mean what?" Rowen asked.  
  
"Change your pants, your cold. Those should fit you."  
  
"Where?" He asked, his eyes going around the apartment quickly. He then noticed the stairs in the center of the room.  
  
"Up the stairs, to your left, is the bathroom." She told him.  
  
He nodded then left to go change.  
  
Once in the bathroom he quickly changed out of the soaked pants and let them sit on the edge of the tub. Leaving the bathroom he made his way back downstairs and to the living room. He had made sure while he was changing to take his armor orb with him, although before placing it in his pocket he had noticed it was glowing. He wasn't quite sure of the reason for the glow; however he didn't take the time to debate it.  
  
"They fit ok?" She asked as soon as he entered the room.  
  
"Yeah, thanks." He said and sat back on his seat on the couch.  
  
She glanced once at the clock and saw it was almost 5, Rowen followed her gaze then did a double take.  
  
"I take it you have an 8am?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Skip it, you're going to need the sleep." Ashley told him, she had taken a seat at the table again.  
  
"What about my other classes?"  
  
"Skip them too."  
  
"But Jenny is in one." He said, he was beginning to hate the name Jenny.  
  
"All the more reason to skip it." Ashley said and stood. "Stay here, I'm going to get you some blankets so you can sleep here tonight."  
  
Rowen did as she told him to and watched the girl vanish upstairs. Sage would be here in two days, scratch that, one day. He could hardly wait. But what would he do about Jenny? The answer came to him quickly, dump her. Plane and simply, get rid of her. Granted it would be hard.  
  
"Here." Ashley said as she came back into the room and passed him a soft fluffy blanket. It had a woodland design on it and made him think of Sage again. She also gave him a dark green pillow. "Sleep as long as you need to."  
  
Rowen nodded his thanks and curled up on the couch in the blanket. He felt wide awake still and simply lie there and listened as Ashley got ready to go to bed. She went into what he assumed was her room and the apartment descended into darkness.  
  
A few minutes he fell asleep, into a calm one. The first calm sleep he had, had since he started dating Jenny.  
  
***  
  
In Japan a blond haired man sat outside a building on the grass in the late day sun. Sage had been getting strange vibes from what he believed was Rowen all day. They had been very, very weak, and he had needed to get away from everyone, even White Blaze, to pick them up. Something was going on in America, and he knew whatever it was, wasn't good.  
  
Taking out his armor orb he looked at it. The green marble like object gently pulsed, almost happily.  
  
Yep something was up. Well whatever it was he would find out shortly.  
  
Glancing around the yard once he walked inside.  
  
*****  
  
A/N: I'll try and get one more update out before Christmas. The major reason, finals, a dreaded word ever college student hates. My first final is next week, and my last is the 16. Once they're over I'll try and get you another chapter.  
  
Oh yeah, and in case you missed it, let me know in your review if you want the url to the song fic that goes with this.  
  
Ok, now I do want to know one thing, do you as readers want this to end with what I plan to do to Jenny, or would you want something to happen such as a threat to the Ronin Warriors so Ashley gets to find out who they truly are? Or would you rather I finish this up with Jenny then do a sequel where Ash finds out? 


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9  
  
A look into what makes Jenny the person she is, yes a whole chapter about nothing but Jenny, but this explains why she is the way she is. Child abuse warning!!!  
  
For anyone who thinks this may be a Mary Sue please read the note at the bottom of the fic.  
  
***  
  
As a little kid your perception of the world can easily be shaped, what you should think can so easily be affected by what your parents tell you and what they do to you. The same is true of children that are raised with limited access to the outside world, ones that only have contact with their parents.  
  
Jennifer Martin, at the age of 4 was living in what would never be considered a good situation. Her mother had gotten a separation from her husband but the man was still living in the house. The house was a small 2 bedroom brick thing that would sometimes be called a shack. In this building lived Jenny, her mother, father, and younger sister. The sister was about a year old and had horrible colic among other things.  
  
This in itself would have been fine, but Jennifer's father often got drunk and would hit her mother in front of both children, not that the baby understood what was going on, but Jenny at her age knew something was wrong with her life. After all, your mommy shouldn't sit next to a window and cry all day, there was just something wrong with that. Yet even when Jenny's mom was in pain, not matter how severe she always had time to pick up and hold one of her small daughters. Yet for some reason, Jenny's mom never left her ex. That would change however.  
  
One night the man came home, drunk as normal. He sat down in his chair and bellowed for dinner. Then did something he had never done, he pulled a table close to him and took a bag out of his pocket, and pulled out a joint. Smiling he lit it and began to enjoy himself. Jenny's mom took one look at what her husband was doing, grabbed both of her children and left the house. The man didn't even look up from what he was doing, he just muttered, 'You'll be back bitch.'  
  
The mom took the girls to a shelter then got the police to arrest her ex, he was violating a restraining order by being on their property. The police came and arrested the man and the family moved back into their house. However with in hours, as soon as the father called, Jenny's mom went down and bailed him out and brought him back home, after all he had sworn he would change, it was just a mistake, a one time thing.  
  
That of course was a lie.  
  
Within a couple of hours of being home, he hit her, hard enough to knock her out for a few hours. She awoke to the sounds of sirens, and knocking at the door.  
  
Paramedics rushed into the house, trying to ignore the condition of the bruised woman who was stretched out on the couch and ran to the upstairs of the small house. The mother followed them, fearing the worse, and she was not disappointed. Laying in the crib was her year old child. The paramedics worked on her to try and bring her back but they where unable to.  
  
"SIDS?" she head one of them ask.  
  
The only response the paramedic got was a shrug.  
  
They took away the body of her baby girl, leaving the woman in tears. Jenny had chosen to hide somewhere, although she had seen the whole thing. Her father had suffocated the poor child as she slept. Her father knew she had seen it and threatened to kill her too if she told, Jenny knew better then to tell anyone.  
  
*~*  
  
5 years later  
  
A now nine year old little girl came home. Her mother had died several years ago of a heart condition, leaving her with her father. The state had yet to do anything about the reported cases of abuse, while the teachers at Jenny's school knew something was up, they could do no more then report it. Almost all of them feared for the little girl's life.  
  
Jenny silently made her way upstairs so as not to wake up her father. If the man was woken up he would get angry, and he was mean when he was angry.  
  
**  
  
Jenny had just climbed into her bed when her father walked into the room and joined his daughter in bed, something he had done even before his wife had died.  
  
***  
  
A 16 year old Jenny left her house, boy friend in tow.  
  
"So where do you want to go?" The boy asked her.  
  
Her date for that night had dirty blond hair and green eyes. His hair wasn't to long and his bangs would sometimes cover his eyes. While he could be sharp of tongues with others, he was nice to Jenny. He could tell there was something in her past that had hurt her, so he only wanted to help her.  
  
"Hmm, how about the mall?" Jenny answered him. True love showed in her eyes. She really loved him, for the first time in her life she had someone who she loved and loved her in return.  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
With that the two walked to his car and got in.  
  
The rest of the night was uneventful. that was until.  
  
The sound of metal against metal, glass breaking, screams of pain, screams of fear.  
  
A car accident, while not crushing to some people, it hit Jenny very hard. She was in the car that wrecked, she was next to the person she loved as a telephone pole fell on the car and one of the parts that stuck out to hold the wires hit him on the head, fracturing his skull. The driver of the car that hit them amazingly didn't run off.  
  
The next thing she knew she was in the hospital, while Hisoka, her date had surgery performed, she had nothing major, just small cuts. They weren't sure if Hisoka would ever wake up.  
  
She wanted to stay there with him, but her father came and forced her to come home with him, calling her a slut the whole time. She never found out what happened to Hisoka, a few days later they moved to a new city.  
  
Jenny hated this city, she hated her father, but most of all she hated her life. So she began to do one thing to take out the pain and began to cut herself. Just small cuts at first but then she made bigger and bigger ones.  
  
The pain to her was as a release.  
  
A couple of months later Jenny got another boyfriend.  
  
This one was a jock and saw Jenny as someone he could conquer, since she was rather pretty. Jenny didn't mind him acting like an ass around her, calling her names and stuff, but the minute he hit her that all changed. Hisoka would have never hit her. So she did the only thing that circumstance deemed to show, and hit her abuser back.  
  
The jock jumped back and glared at her "Bitch."  
  
Jenny just stared back, anger and something else in her eyes. A kind of calmness. He didn't seem to notice that, and went to hit her again. This time she grabbed his hand and kicked him in the groin. He fell to the ground and glared at her, fury filling his eyes.  
  
"I'm tired of being treated like shit." She muttered and began to beat him until all of her anger was gone.  
  
She left the jock's house, not telling anyone what happened.  
  
What she left behind was a bleeding mass of matter, barely breathing. The local police did nothing to her, not only did the jock have a rap sheet a mile long, and many people wanted him dead, there was no evidence Jenny had ever been there.  
  
It was at that night Jenny found out it felt better to hurt someone then to be hurt, something that while true it should never be taken to heart.  
  
Jenny moved to college a few weeks later and got her first boyfriend, several weeks later he needed to be hospitalized.  
  
**************  
  
Definition of a Mary Sue, taken from Firestorm's (user id: 59706)fic: The Arising (taken by her permission) "What is a Mary Sue? A Mary Sue is a character a person enters into their fic. Often, they are the most charming, beautiful, perfect, and strongest and best people out there. They are usually sent to protect the main characters, and generally fall in love with the Ronins or Warlords, have no faults, can sing beautifully, play sports better than the Ronins, even fight better than the Ronins, and generally have no weaknesses. And believe me, you don't want a character like that. If you want a good character, give her/him a name, personality, weaknesses, faults, and certain strengths. And most of all, don't focus the fic just on your character. Focus it on the Ronin Warriors, Warlords, and original characters of the show. This will help keep returning readers to you."  
  
My character Ashley does not fit this definition in anyway, she's just another character kinda like Tom. While Ashley is smarter then Rowen, at least in mind games, that has a lot to do with her roommate being a Psych major.  
  
I don't own anything copywrited mentioned in this fic. 


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10

A/N: We're back to Rowen! The url to the side fic is at the end of this chapter.

Uber later side note: Sorry for the delay, my computer got wormy (viruses and the like) started to crash, tried reformatting, didn't work, had to reformat again, that worked.

Remember words** in** are in Japanese, unless it the Ronins in Japan talking to eachother.

Rowen woke up the next afternoon and found a girl looking at him, her hands where wrapped around a coffee cup and every once in a while she would take a sip of the steaming liquid.

"Hey Ash!" She suddenly cried out, causing Rowen to jump, "Oh sorry."

"What?" Ashley called down.

"He's awake."

A few seconds later Ashley walked down the stairs and into the living room.

"Morning sleeping beauty."

Rowen glanced around the room, confused for a second, then what happened that night came to his mind.

"Here." Ashley said and threw something at him.

He caught it and looked at the bundle. It was his shirt and jeans, cleaned and dried.

"I did 'em while you were sleeping."

"Thanks." Rowen told her and left the blankets. He made his way to the stairs and paused, then looked back to the two girls who where still standing in the room. "Why?"

"Why, what?" Ashley asked him. She had moved so she could get his blanket and pillow.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Cause you need it." She told him.

Rowen hadn't expected that answer but didn't want to push, so he finished his accent up the stairs and went into the bathroom to get changed.

Once dressed he glanced at his watch. It was 2 so he still had enough time to get to at least one class that day. As he passed outside of the bathroom, he found himself looking in a mirror, and almost had to do a double take. He looked horrible, granted his clothes were clean. However, he had bags under his eyes, and the look in his eyes carried fear, along with a kind of dread. In all of his past, even with Talpa he had never remember having such a look. The look of the hunted. One he knew was seen in the eyes of an animal about to be killed.

But why was it there? That answer he didn't know. He tried to make it go away and was only partially successful. Fear again went through his body for no reason, and as Rowen stared at his reflection. He noticed suddenly, ever so faintly his virtue began to glow.

'Why,' he wondered 'would it be glowing now?'

Jenny...

The name made him shutter and dread danced through his body. In the mirror he watched as his virtue intensified, in a sudden flash which caused him to close his eyes. For one fleeting second he feared his eyes may have been damaged by the force of the light. He opened his eyes, fearing the unknown. Nothing was wrong. The virtue was gone, and his eyes were fine. A second thought came to his mind, did Ashley or her roommate see the light? He stopped breathing and tried to hear their conversation. The little snippets he could hear from them seemed to the normal stuff, classes, what they were doing this weekend, no sign of questioning about the flash of blue light.

Hesitating a second longer he shifted the jeans and barrowed shirt he needed to give back, then left the sinks and went back downstairs.

The girls were sitting in the living room, talking. The blanket and pillow he had used the night before where gone.

"Oh good, your done." Ashley told him.

"I almost thought he fell in." her friend joked.

"Oh yeah, Rowen this is Cera."

Rowen nodded to the girl who smiled at him.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Ashley continued.

"Um, Ash?" Cera asked cutting her off.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you have a test in an hour?"

Ashley did a double take at a clock and jumped, "Yeah, um I do."

Rowen had by now placed the jeans and shirt on the couch and was waiting on the girls.

"Um, let me grab my stuff, and sign Rowen out." Ashley said as she ran upstairs.

"Nice girl, bad grasp of time." Cera told him.

Rowen didn't respond.

Ashley ran down the stairs, carrying a book bag and paused looking at Rowen. "Will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure, cause Cera can sign you in if you want to stay here."

"I'll be fine." Rowen repeated, he could take care of himself; he was a warrior after all.

"If you're sure."

A warrior who got the shit beaten out of him by a girl. Kinda depressing if you thought about it.

"I'm sure." He told and went out the door.

"Hey wait up!" Ashley cried and followed him.

He had paused, waiting for her.

"Something wrong?" Ashley asked.

"I'm um... lost." Rowen told her looking at the maze.

"Just follow me." She told him, "You know, I don't know why you're so hard on yourself. It's not like you need to try to save the world or anything."

He almost paused, 'It's just an analogy Rowen.' he told himself.

He put his hand into his pocket and felt his orb brush against it. For some reason it felt warm, almost hot. He quickly took his hand out of his pocket.

"Looking for your ID?" Ashley asked him.

"No." Rowen told her, still following the woman.

They made it down to the security desk and Ashley signed him out, then passed him a piece of paper.

"That's my cell number if you need me." She told him.

He glanced at it once then put it in his pocket. He would of course have to find a phone to call her from. Unlike Sage and Cye he didn't have a cell phone. He really couldn't afford one, even though Mia had offered to get him one, but he didn't want to burden her anymore then they already were doing.

Ashley left the building and Rowen followed.

"Ok, test, fun." She muttered and began to walk to the Business Building.

Rowen crossed the street as soon as he had a chance and made his way across the park. Since it had rained the previous night the air temperature was colder then normal, and due to this hardly anyone was in the park.

He quickly made his way to Johnson and went up to his room.

Thankfully no one, not even Tom was there. So he collapsed on his bed. While he had been planning on going to class that day, after he had seen how bad he looked he decided maybe it would be a good idea to just stay there.

After all he had to pull himself together before Sage got here. Sage could under no conditions see him this way, he was Rowen of Strata, he needed to be that warrior of life again.

Silence.

Then he thought he heard Jenny talking in the hallway. And that one sound made him almost break down. Men may not cry, however, there were situations where they would find out the truth.

Rowen and the rest of the Ronins had found out the truth men did cry. Crying was one way to express yourself, the same as yelling or fighting. And in some situations you had to cry, as he had in battle before. This however was not the time, there was no demon trying to take over earth, no warlords who wanted his friend and himself dead, therefore tears where not needed.

The phone suddenly rang, startling him out of his mood.

"Hello" he muttered, answering the phone.

"Rowen?" The voice of Ryo drifted to his ears.

"Ryo?" Rowen asked in complete astonishment.

**"Rowen what's the matter?"**

**"Ryo... I... I..."** Rowen broke down and began to cry. He couldn't take it anymore. One day their dead and he's ready to kill himself, now they were alive.

**"Rowen calm down, Sage will be there tomorrow."**

Rowen tried to get himself under control.

**"Will you be ok until Sage gets there?"**

**"Yes Ryo, I'll be fine. Rowen told him and hung up."**

Ryo hung up the phone and glanced at everyone in the room.

"It's a good think Sage is going there."

"It's that bad?" Cye asked.

"Something's really wrong." Ryo said.


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

Note: I think ff.n may be out to remove my almost 5 year old account (wow I remember the days of author pics) anyway this fic is on my site, look for it at )

Rowen had collapsed on his bed and soon had fallen asleep, once he got off the phone. At some point that night Thomas had come in, saw his sleeping roommate and simply let him sleep.

The next morning came, and Rowen woke up to the sound of Tom's alarm going off. He sleepily watched as his roommate climbed down from the top bunk and turned it off. Tom then went to his computer and checked something.

Rowen was awake enough to glance at the calendar. "It's Saturday." he muttered.

"Yeah it is." Tom answered.

"Why are you up at 8 am?"

"Cause some girl called here yesterday to find you. She told me to remind you your friend was coming here today at 9 am."

"Nine?" Rowen muttered and glanced at the clock, it was now 8:15.

"Yep." Thomas said.

Rowen groaned and pulled himself out of bed. Damn Sage and his annoying timing. Why couldn't he just sleep? He sighed to himself and went to take a shower.

Rowen had gotten his hair to a reasonably dry level and the two roommates were sitting in their room working on school work. When the room phone rang Tom went to answer it, then hung up.

"Your friend is downstairs." Tom told him.

Rowen signed and saved his paper. Then grabbing his ID he left the room and made his way downstairs. Sage… Sage was here.

He paused in the stairwell, Sage, what would that mean? He better get down there before Sage contacted him via the mind link. But something still stopped him from moving. Maybe it was the fact that Sage would notice how bad he looked.

But then would Sage really care? Sage was Sage, his best friend.

With a sigh he continued to the lobby.

Time and time again Sage Date had, had trouble with girls. They all seemed to want him for his looks; hardly ever had he meant one who wanted him for himself. Of course most of the time he was to shy to talk to them any longer then a few minutes. Perhaps shy wasn't the right word, perhaps it had more to deal with his childhood. (After all being dressed in girl's clothes and teased for it was not something one could forget.) Whatever the cause he didn't like the girls/women that would eye him.

As Sage stood near the stair well/entry way groups of people went past to get into the building. It would figure he would have to wait for Rowen in an area where people… females, could stare at him.

"He'll be down soon." the female security guard told him, noticing his nervousness, she didn't seem to be checking him out.

Sage nodded in thanks to her and continued to ignore the looks from females. The sounds of someone running down stairs came from Sage's left and he glanced in that direction expectantly.

After a few seconds Rowen walked into the room. He looked different, more grown up, in a good way… However, he looked horrible as far as Rowen of Strata went. The normal confidence was gone, as was the inner strength. His walk carried none of his warrior strength or determination. His virtue seemed the only thing that hadn't changed in someway.

Rowen wasn't sure what to expect when he walked into that room, and due to that he had stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The getting his resolve back he walked threw the doorway.

Sage.

Sage noticed him as soon as he entered and watched as he walked over to him. Without even saying hi he asked for his ID. Sage has already dug out the New York City's driver's license. Rowen took it, glanced at it once, clearly confused then signed him in.

"Come on." He told his friend, sounding less then happy to see him.

The two walked back to where the elevator/stairwell was and Rowen hit the button for the elevator. Silence still reigned supreme. While Sage wanted to know what was wrong he knew better then to ask right now. Rowen would tell him when he felt the time was right, wouldn't he?

The elevator doors opened and a group of teens got off, Rowen jumped into the elevator followed by Sage. The silence had started to get to him.

"Rowen?"

"Sage, let it wait till we get to the room." Rowen told him, something in the warrior's voice was off, Rowen seemed to have lost something, something Sage couldn't identify, yet he knew it was there.

Sage didn't reply, but Rowen could read him, Sage was worried. Well he did have a right to be, after all he had changed. At least letting them know he was corrupted now would give them time to look for a new Ronin of Strata.

They made it to the room in time to see Tom leave.

"Rowen, I'll be back later." Tom said, and didn't give Rowen a chance to reply as he walked down the hallway.

Rowen was glad in a way, at least Tom wouldn't be there if he broke down. He sighed and led Sage into his room.

TBC

Sorry for the delay in updating, school this year killed any time I had for really writing any fics, I'm trying to up date everything now.

Please note: I update on before I update here, it also has all of my new fics.


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